Cannon Beach Fire & Rescue lost almost half of its paid volunteers over the last decade, dropping from 25 to 14. Meanwhile, calls for service increased by 16% last year.
Fire Chief Marc Reckmann said many volunteers have retired or been priced out of the area鈥檚 increasingly tight housing market. The ones that remain aren鈥檛 always available to respond at a moment鈥檚 notice.
鈥淰olunteers can鈥檛 just leave their jobs anymore like they used to. It used to be that stores would shut down 鈥� whole businesses would shut down 鈥� and they鈥檇 come to the fire station for a call,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e just don鈥檛 have the availability we used to.鈥�
Farther down the coast, similar problems persist.
Acting Fire Chief Jeff Adkins said the Coos Bay Fire Department has also lost a significant number of volunteers over the past several years. The department currently has 12 volunteers, well below the 25 that Adkins said would constitute a full staff.
In addition to retirement, he said a shift in the culture of volunteer firefighting may be driving the decline.
鈥淲e hold everyone to a higher standard than they probably were held to 40 to 50 years ago,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not as much of a social club as it used to be.鈥�
According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, two-thirds of the nation鈥檚 firefighters are volunteers. But the volunteer force is down by 200,000 since 1984.
鈥淭his is not an Oregon Coast thing, it鈥檚 not a state of Oregon thing 鈥� it鈥檚 a national thing, where volunteerism has declined,鈥� Adkins said.
Both Coos Bay and Cannon Beach rely heavily on volunteer firefighters, though fewer respond to calls in Coos Bay. Adkins said his department鈥檚 volunteers are more involved with auxiliary activities, but receive the same training as career staff.
Volunteers in Cannon Beach receive a small stipend each month based on the number of calls they respond to, while volunteers in Coos Bay are unpaid.
Adkins said the Coos Bay Fire Department is set to launch a recruitment campaign that aims 鈥渢o get people into that community-minded spirit again.鈥�
As for Cannon Beach, Reckmann and a number of other North Coast fire chiefs recently to get the word out about the staffing crisis.
The department has also started to encourage people who live outside of the Cannon Beach Fire District to become paid, on-call volunteers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going away. We just need some more help,鈥� Reckmann said.
Fire Chiefs Marc Reckmann and Jeff Adkins spoke with OPB鈥檚 Geoff Norcross on 鈥淭hink Out Loud.鈥� Click "Listen" to listen to the full conversation:
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